Poetry
The Death of Jánošík
Smrť Jánošíkova
Ján Botto · 1862
Synopsis
A prologue and nine cantos in syllabic verse. A mother bids farewell to her sons, who have left for the mountains, then the poem celebrates the glory of Jánošík's band around a fire that is beginning to die down. Betrayed by Gajdošík, the brigand is captured, bound and tortured, without revealing his treasure; his beloved comes to say goodbye to him, and in his prison he dreams of his youth and of freedom. The fire stands for freedom, the falcon for the fighter of the people, and the hero's dream world is set against the passive peasants.
Context
The poem appeared in 1862, and the author reworked it in the 1870s. Visegrad Literature sees in it the most famous literary treatment of the story of the executed brigand, in which fairy-tale visions and messianic accents stand alongside a sombre realism. Ivan J. Kramoris translated it into English in 1944, under the title The Death of Jánošík, for the Slovak National Society of the United States, in Pittsburgh, and it is counted among the most important ballads of its author.
Who it is for
A long ballad in syllabic verse, best read with the legend of Jánošík in mind.
Prizes and reception
The best known of the poems devoted to the brigand Jánošík, and one of the great ballads of Slovak Romanticism.